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Letter to an Unknown Submitter

Ezra Pound’s poem “Portrait D’ Une Femme” was “rejected by the North American Review in January 1912, according to Pound, on the grounds that ‘I had used the letter ‘r’ three times in the first line, and that it was very difficult to pronounce.'” *

Line: “Your mind and you are our Sargasso Sea,”

I don’t edit this way and frown upon those who do; in fact, the more difficult to pronounce, the better.

James Salter: “The secret of making [art] is simple. Discard everything that is good enough.”

I am not looking for toss-offs or something “good enough” for an internet journal. This is 3am Magazine, it’s been here for over thirteen years, that’s centuries in internet time.

If this is brusque, think of the process this way. Roughly 15% of all submissions (print, internet, and otherwise) never get replied to. I am replying to all because I take this seriously.